Once breakfast was accomplished, it was time for another adventure in big-city public transportation. This time, it was a city bus to the Museum of Science and Industry. That was a cool museum, but Cas and I agreed on two things walking out. First, They needed to divide the whole place into two or three different museums. It was too much to take in. Second, we’re done with museums for 2023. No knock, but after a week and a half of unfettered Smithsonian access followed by this jaunt into another spectacular museum, we may have reached maximum knowledge and culture input.
We started out walking through an exhibit largely about modes of transportation. There were train cars, modern and historical vehicles and airplanes from days gone by. They took a page from the Smithsonian and hung some of the aircraft from the ceiling. We went there on the way to an exhibit about the coal mining industry. This one took participants on an elevator down to show what the inner workings of coal mines looked like. There were large, heavy mining machines and other tools of the industry, and the tour guide switched them on and off for us, so we could see what the work was like. It was interesting, but all things being equal, I will stick to my school library, thank you.
After that, we wandered other exhibits, including the one about the farming industry and the one with the fairy castle, which is essentially a giant dollhouse that’s been in the museum since 1949. The duration of that exhibit is a curiosity on its own, but when you go have a look, you see that it’s something interesting an unusual. Dollhouses were never really my thing, but this one was pretty grand. No time to linger, though, because the time for our timed-entry tickets to a very interesting exhibit were coming right up. We were going to walk around inside the only captured WWII German U-Boat.
When you go to see the U-505, you’re sent through a series of displays that tell you how the German boats did their job during the war and what Herculean efforts the Allies went to in fighting them off. The Germans were having tremendous luck with their submarines, and the Allies were having real trouble fighting them off. The story of the capture and recovery of U-505 is really museum-worthy, but the big draw is the boat. They have a massive hall in the museum with a high ceiling and a cutout in the floor where they have parked one entire German U-boat. I wondered how they got it in there. They had to either build the room around it or retrofit a massive hall and tear out a wall to put the boat in. It was impressive- shaped specifically for a ship, in fact.
After leaving there, we hopped back on bus number 10, switched to number 29 and headed to Navy Pier. We’re getting the most out of our $15, three-day CTA passes, I can tell you that. I wanted to ride the giant Ferris Wheel at the Pier- seemed like a great way to look at the city, the water and the pier itself. But first, a very late lunch. Or was it an early dinner. Either way, it’s a good thing breakfast was so big, because we were good and hungry by the time we got to the Harry Caray Tavern.
Harry Caray was, of course, the closest thing to Chicago royalty. He was the voice that accompanied televised Chicago Cubs games for a very long time, and he was quite the character. No doubt, we will walk past the statue of him later today when we head to Wrigley Field. Out on the Pier, though, there is a restaurant bursting at the seams with autographed memorabilia, photos and other artifacts from a lifetime of baseball. We sat outside, and I got a Chicago-style hot dog. Cas got what they were calling a “Holy cow” burger. We even used the Harry Caray photo filter that lets you don his signature glasses. And, of course, there was a spot for a cute photo right out front. Cas and I took advantage, and just because it’s me writing and not him, I get to make the corny joke- here goes:
Look at this handsome guy I married! What a catch!
I know, it was a corny joke, and what’s worse, I’m not even sorry.
Moving on…
We went from there to the end of the pier, then halfway back to the place where the giant Ferris wheel sits. We got our own carriage and a decent amount of time to rotate around the giant metal wheel and look out at the lake, the river, the skyline and the pier. It was pretty great, and I really do appreciate that they let each group have its own carriage, even if it’s a group of two.
When we got down from there, we decided to take advantage of the margaritas-to-go stand near the small live music stage. With beverages in hand, we actually did both of the things we were trying to decide between. We wanted to stay and enjoy the weather and the pier, but we also wanted to check out a blues club. I can only speak for myself, but I was pretty wiped out, so when it turned out that we could listen to a Chicago blues band right there at the pier without getting on a bus or a train, it was a win.
After an evening at the Navy Pier, we were done. It was a little early, but our hotel has a terrace, where we could order a little bit of food and enjoy the weather. I know I am making kind of a big deal about enjoying the weather, but after the walk-through-a-raincloud feeling we had the whole time in DC, we went home to Dallas where every day has been over 100 for what seems like ages. Today, the high here isn’t even supposed to reach 80.
So it’s Wrigley Field today, and a ride on a tall ship this evening, then we are off to Indiana tomorrow. Considering we’ve only been in Chicago for under 48 hours, I feel like we’ve made the most of this visit so far.
So, before I leave you here and go off to the next bit of adventure, let’s try out the experimental photo album, shall we? The videos aren’t playing correctly from here, but that’s a problem to work out when we get home. No time like a quick trip to sort out the details before we go on a much longer one next spring or summer. Regardless, here are our photos: https://tinyurl.com/DunlapChicago
Now, it’s time to play ball.
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